McBride sister fails to win seat in British parliament

The sister of a Belfast teenager murdered by two British soldiers has failed in her attempt to win a seat in the British parliament.

Kelly McBride secured just 189 votes in yesterday’s by-election in the London constituency of Brent-East, where much of the city’s Irish emigrant population lives.

Ms McBride’s 18-year-old brother, Peter, was shot in the back by two British soldiers in the New Lodge area of Belfast in September 1992.

The two soldiers, Mark Wright and James Fisher, were convicted of his murder and jailed for life in 1995, but were released after serving just three years.

They were later readmitted to the British army and Ms McBride’s decision to seek election in Britain was part of her family’s campaign to have that decision overturned.

The McBrides have pointed out that a soldier was kicked out of the British army for cheating on the Who Wants to be a Millionaire game show, yet the men who murdered an unarmed father-of-two were re-admitted with the full support of the British establishment.